Hello, Air Force! Thank you so much. Thank you. It is
wonderful to be back at the United States Air Force Academy!
Thank you.

Secretary James, for your service to our Air Force and to our nation.
Governor Hickenlooper, Academy leaders, faculty and staff -- especially
your outstanding Superintendent, Lieutenant General Michelle Johnson.
And most of all, congratulations to the Class of 2016!

As he prepares to conclude a remarkable 40-year career in the Air Force
-- a career that started on this day 40 years ago -- please join me in
saluting someone who many of you look up to and whose counsel I've
relied on as well -- Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh. Thank you,
Mark. Thank you, Mark, and thank you, Betty.

And although he’s not here today, I am proud to have nominated another
Academy graduate -- and a combat-tested pilot -- to serve as the 21st
Air Force Chief of Staff, General David Goldfein.

Cadets, you can take enormous pride in all the hard work that has
brought you to this day. I also ask you to give a big round of applause
to all your moms and dads, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts,
uncles who supported you and sacrificed for you so you could be here
today. Give them another round of applause.

Now, I have to tell you, some days I spend more time with the Air Force
than my own family. Especially on Air Force One.
You take good care of me. You are always on time. You
never lose my luggage. I don't have to take off my shoes
before I get on. So I’m really going to miss Air Force One
-- as well as the incredible Airmen that I’ve come to
know. And that includes the pilots who flew me here -- Lieutenant
Colonels Dan Thorn and Rob Tobler and Major Brett Ellis -- all three of
them proud Air Force Academy graduates. Give them a big round of
applause.

This Academy is one of our nation’s most selective academic
institutions. Just being accepted is a big deal -- a testament to your
talent and your leadership. And we are particularly grateful to those
of you with prior enlisted service, including Cameron Kistler, who
deployed to Iraq -- Robert Parati and Clayton Logan, who
deployed to Afghanistan. We thank you. Your country
thanks you.

Cadets, here you were tested by fire -- literally. When you went
through Beast, as General Johnson noted, Waldo Canyon was actually on
fire. During Recognition, you ran to the Rock in a blizzard. So you
have more than earned your unofficial motto -- “forged in fire and
tempered in ice.” Which is a great motto -- although it
does sound like something out of Game of Thrones.

And through it all, you’ve become like family. You survived morning
accountability formations, survived living in Sijan Hall. That night in F-1 where you learned to “earn each day.” You cheered Coach Calhoun and the Falcons as I’ve welcomed them to the
White House to present the Commander-in-Chief Trophy -- which Air Force has won a record 19 times.

And I look out into your ranks and I see Airmen who will excel as pilots
and engineers, analysts -- so many specialties. The first cyber
graduates in this Academy’s history. And David Higgins, a
marksman who’s going to the Olympics in Rio -- bring home the gold,
David! No pressure.

In you, I see men and women of integrity and service and excellence.
And you’ve made us all proud. And perhaps no one would have been more
proud of your success than Major David Brodeur, whose sacrifice in
Afghanistan we honor, and whose family joins us today -- 2016.

You’ve learned other lessons, as well, like what happens when you paint
one of the planes on the Terrazo in your class color. With
such “achievements” in mind -- I hereby grant amnesty to all cadets
serving restrictions and confinements for minor offenses. Only minor.

Today, we congratulate our newest Air Force officers. On behalf of the
American people, I thank you for choosing a life of service. In the
coming weeks, some of you will head to the chapel to get married. In
the years ahead, you and your families will serve around the world. As
officers, you’ll be responsible for the lives of those under your
command, and you’ll be called upon to lead with wisdom, courage and
compassion. That’s what I want to talk with you about today.

I’ve served as Commander-in-Chief for nearly eight years now. It has
been the highest honor of my life to lead the greatest military in the
history of the world. It inspires me every day. Today
will be the last time that I have the honor of addressing a graduating
class of military officers. And there’s a debate going on in our country
about our nation’s role in the world. So, with that in mind, I hope you
don't mind if I share some lessons I’ve learned as Commander-in-Chief --
lessons that you may find useful as you lead those under your command,
and as we work together to keep our nation strong and secure.

First, as you look at the world, be guided by an honest and clear-eyed
assessment. Remember what you learned at this Academy -- the importance
of evidence and facts and judgment. And here’s a fact: The United
States of America remains the most powerful nation on Earth and a force
for good.

We have big challenges in our country -- in our politics, our economy,
our society. Those are challenges we have to address. But look around.
We have the world’s strongest economy. Our scientists, our
researchers, our entrepreneurs are global leaders in innovation. Our
colleges and universities attract the best talent from around the world.
Our values -- freedom, equality, opportunity -- those values inspire
people everywhere, including immigrants who come here, ready to work,
and integrate and help renew our country.

Our standing in the world is higher. I see it in my travels from Havana
to Berlin to Ho Chi Minh City -- where huge crowds of Vietnamese lined
the streets, some waving American flags. So make no mistake, the United
States is better positioned to lead in the 21st century than any other
nation.

And here’s another fact: Our military is, by a mile, the strongest in
the world. Yes, after two major ground wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq, we’re drawing down the size of our Armed Forces, which is
natural and necessary. And we have to keep improving readiness and
modernizing our force. But it is undeniable -- our military is the most
capable fighting force on the planet. It’s not close.

Our soldiers are the best-trained, best-equipped land force on Earth,
tested by years of combat, able to sustain power anywhere in the globe.
Nobody can match our Army. Our sailors serve on aircraft carriers that
can go almost anywhere, and submarines that move undetected -- the
largest and most lethal Navy in the world, on track to surpass 300
ships. Nobody can match our Navy. Our Marines are ready at a moment’s
notice, “first to fight” or deliver help in a crisis, the world’s only
truly global expeditionary force. Nobody can match our Marines. Our
Coast Guardsmen serve on the most advanced cutters in history, and
special teams can shoot smugglers’ engines, hook and climb or repel
aboard, protecting our shores. Nobody can match our Coast Guard.

Not only that, no other nation brings its forces together like we do in
one joint force, as we saw in an operation against ISIL in Syria just
last year. Air Force aircraft provided surveillance. Navy F-18s
provided close air support. Army aviation assets delivered our Special
Operators, an assault force of Marines and soldiers, to the target, and
one of ISIL’s top leaders, Abu Sayyaf, was eliminated. That’s the power
of America’s military. And we need to keep it that way.

And here’s one more fact as you go out into the world: We are blessed
to be living in the most peaceful, most prosperous era in human history.
Now, that sounds controversial until you survey the history of the
world. It’s hard to see, with all the violence and suffering in the
world, and what’s reported on the news every day. But if you step back
for a moment -- think about last week, when I was in Hiroshima to
remember all who were lost in a World War that killed some 60 million
people -- not 60,000, 60 million.

For decades, there have been no wars between major powers. Wars between
nations are increasingly rare. More people live in democracies. More
than 1 billion people have been lifted from extreme poverty. From the
Americas to Africa to Southeast Asia, there’s a new generation of young
people, connected by technology and ready to make their mark. I’ve met
them. They look up to America. They aspire to be our partner. That’s
the progress and the hope that we have to build on. And so much of that
derives from the extraordinary leadership and sacrifice of our Air Force
and the other branches of our military.

So we are well-positioned. You enter this moment with a lot of good
cards to play. But we face serious threats. Terrorist networks
slaughter the innocent and plot attacks against our nation. Civil wars
like in Iraq tear countries apart and create humanitarian catastrophes
and havens for terrorists. Russian aggression against Ukraine, disputes
in the South China Sea -- these are testing an international order that
we built, where the sovereignty of nations is respected and all nations
abide by the same rules. Nuclear weapons, as in North Korea, and the
specter of nuclear terrorism still threaten us all.

So how to meet these threats while also seizing the incredible
opportunities of this moment in history, that’s going to be your
challenge -- the challenge of your generation.

Which leads me to a second lesson. As we navigate this complex world,
America cannot shirk the mantle of leadership. We can’t be
isolationist. It’s not possible in this globalized, interconnected
world. In these uncertain times, it’s tempting sometimes to pull back
and try to wash our hands of conflicts that seem intractable, let other
countries fend for themselves.
But history teaches us, from Pearl Harbor to 9/11, that oceans alone
cannot protect us. Hateful ideologies can spark terror from Boston to
San Bernardino.

In a global economy, it’s not possible to stop trading goods and
services with other countries. Weak public health systems on the other
side of the world allow diseases to develop that end up reaching our
shores. So we cannot turn inward. We cannot give in to isolationism.
That’s a false comfort. Allowing problems to fester over there makes
us less secure here. So, as Americans, we have to keep leading and
working with others to build the security and prosperity and justice we
want in the world.

By the way, one of the most effective ways to lead and work with others
is through treaties that advance our interests. Lately, there's been a
mindset in Congress that just about any international treaty is somehow
a violation of American sovereignty, and so the Senate almost never
approves treaties anymore. They voted down a treaty to protect disabled
Americans, including our veterans, while Senator and World War II
veteran Bob Dole was sitting right there in the Senate chambers in a
wheelchair.

We don't always realize it, but treaties help make a lot of things in
our lives possible that we take for granted -- from international phone
calls to mail. Those are good things. Those are not a threat to our
sovereignty. I think we can all agree on that.

But also from NATO to treaties controlling nuclear weapons, treaties
help keep us safe. So if we’re truly concerned about China’s actions in
the South China Sea, for example, the Senate should help strengthen our
case by approving the Law of the Sea Convention -- as our military
leaders have urged. And by the way, these treaties are not a new thing.
The power to make treaties is written into our Constitution. Our
Founding Fathers ratified lots of treaties. So it’s time for the Senate
to do its job and help us advance American leadership, rather than
undermine it.

A part of the reason this is so important is because the United States
remains the one indisputable nation in world affairs. I say this all
the time. After eight years, I have not gone to an international
conference, summit, meeting where we were not the ones who made the
agenda possible -- even if we weren’t hosting it. We have more
alliances with other countries than anybody else -- and they’re the
foundation of global stability and prosperity. On just about every
issue, the world looks to us to set the agenda. When there’s a problem
around the world, they do not call Beijing or Moscow -- they call us.

And we lead not by dictating to other nations, but by working with them
as partners; by treating other countries and their peoples with respect,
not by lecturing them. This isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s in
our self-interest. It makes countries more likely to work with us, and,
ultimately, it makes us more secure. So we need smart, steady,
principled American leadership.

And part of leading wisely is seeing threats clearly. Remember Ebola?
That was a serious threat, and we took it seriously. But in the midst
of it, there was hysteria. “Flights must be banned!” “Quarantine
citizens!” These were actual quotes. “Seal the border!” And my
favorite -- “Remove Obama…or millions of Americans die!” That’s an actual quote.

The thing is, when we panic, we don’t make good decisions. So, with
Ebola, instead of responding with fear, we responded with facts and
responded with science and organization. And thanks to a coordinated
global response -- enabled by the American military and our medical
workers who got in there first -- we stopped the spread of Ebola in West
Africa and saved countless lives, and protected ourselves.

So we’ve got to engage with the world. We can’t pull back. Of course,
leading wisely also means resisting the temptation to intervene
militarily every time there’s a problem or crisis in the world. History
is littered with the ruins of empires and nations that overextended
themselves, draining their power and influence. And so we have to chart
a smarter path. As we saw in Vietnam and the Iraq War, oftentimes the
greatest damage to American credibility comes when we overreach, when we
don’t think through the consequences of all of our actions. And so we
have to learn from our history. And that also means we’re doing right
by our men and women in uniform.

So, cadets, in your positions of leadership, you will be called upon to
sustain this balance -- to be hard-headed and big-hearted; guided by
realism and idealism, even when these forces are sometimes at odds.
We’ve got to have the realism to see the world as it is -- where
sometimes uncomfortable compromises are necessary; where we have the
humility to recognize that there are limits to what even a nation as
powerful as ours can do; that there may be wars we cannot always stop
right away, or lives we cannot save. But we also need the idealism that
sees the world as it ought to be -- a commitment to the universal values
of democracy and equality and human rights, and a willingness to stand
up for them around the world -- not just when it’s easy, but when it’s
hard. Because that’s who we are and that’s American leadership.

At times, ensuring our security requires the use of military force.
That’s the third lesson I want to discuss. As Commander-in-Chief, I
have not hesitated to use force, unilaterally where necessary, to
protect the American people. Thanks to our military, intelligence and
counterterrorism professionals,
bin Laden is gone. Anwar al-Awlaki, a leader of the al
Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, is gone. Ahmed Abdi Godane, the
al Qaeda leader in Somalia -- he’s gone. Ahmed Abu Khattala, accused in the attacks in Benghazi -- captured. Mohammad
Mansur, the leader of the Taliban -- gone. Leader after
leader in ISIL -- Haji Mutazz, their number two; Mohamed Emwazi, who
brutally murdered Americans; Abu Nabil, the ISIL leader in Libya -- all
gone. Abu Dawud, a leader of their chemical weapons program --
captured.

The list goes on. Because if you target Americans, we will find you and
justice will be done, and we will defend our nation.

But even as we celebrate the courage of our troops who serve in war,
even where we do not hesitate to act on behalf of our security, we
should never celebrate war itself. War, no matter how noble our
intentions may be, promises agony and tragedy. And no one knows this
more than those who fight those wars -- our wounded warriors who bear
the scars, seen and unseen; our veterans, who remember their fallen
comrades; our Gold Star families, whose hearts ache with pride and with
loss.

We have a solemn responsibility to these Americans who sacrifice in our
name. We have a responsibility to be guided by intelligence, and not
ideology, and to never rush into war, and to explore other options
first. Because sending our troops into harm’s way must always be a last
resort.

And sometimes those decisions are tough. I know, for example, that my
decision not to conduct strikes against Syria after it used chemical
weapons was controversial among some in Washington. But because we
seized a diplomatic option, backed by our threat of force, nations came
together and we accomplished far more than military strikes ever could
have -- all of Syria’s declared chemical weapons were successfully
removed.

And in acting militarily, we have a responsibility, whenever possible,
to build coalitions and partnerships. There are times where we have to
do it alone. But on a whole lot of global problems, the United States
shouldn’t bear the entire burden of global security by itself. Others
have to step up. That’s why, as we assist and train Afghan forces,
we’re part of a 39-nation coalition. Our coalition against ISIL
includes 66 partners, including Arab nations. We’ve learned that often
the best way to defeat terrorists is not by sending large numbers of
American ground forces to occupy and patrol foreign cities and towns.
It’s better to train and build up local partners -- they’re the ones
who have to stabilize their own countries over the long term.

Compared to when I came into office -- when we had nearly 180,000
American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq -- today that number is less
than 15,000. Most of our troops have come home. Our local
partners on the ground are in the lead. And as ISIL
continues to lose territory in Iraq and Syria, these terrorists are
learning the same lesson as others before them -- you will never be
strong enough to destroy America or our way of life. You are going to
lose. But part of that is because we’re on the right side of history,
and part of it is because we can mobilize others to work with us.

When we use force, we have a responsibility to use it proportionally.
Unlike terrorists who try to kill as many people as possible, the
United States military goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian
casualties. It’s the tragedy of war, however, whenever -- whether it’s
conventional warfare or precision strikes -- that innocents sometimes
are caught in the crossfire. And these are deaths that haunt us all.
Nobody more than me. As technology evolves, we can never grow numb to
the consequences of our actions. We have to hold ourselves to high
standards, be even more transparent, and do everything in our power to
prevent the loss of innocent life. That’s how America goes to war. And
that’s how, ultimately, America also wins the peace.

And we have a responsibility to always give our troops a clear mission,
the support they need to get the job done, and a plan for what comes
after. I insisted, for example, that our surge of forces in Afghanistan
be matched with a transition to ensure Afghans took responsibility for
their own security.

In Libya, we were right to launch an air campaign to prevent Qaddafi
from massacring innocent civilians, but we didn’t do enough to plan for
the day after, when deep-rooted tribalism plunged Libya into disorder.

In Syria, the suffering in the civil war has been heartbreaking to see a
nation shattered, and hundreds of thousands killed and millions driven
from their homes. It is gut-wrenching. And as a father, I look at
Syria’s children and I see my own. That’s why we’ve said the dictator,
Assad, must go and why we support a moderate Syrian opposition. And
it’s why America provides more humanitarian aid to the Syrian people
than any other nation.

But suggestions for deeper U.S. military involvement in a conflict like
the Syrian civil war have to be fully thought through, rigorously
examined with an honest assessment of the risks and tradeoffs. How will
it alter the conflict? What comes next? When we ask those questions,
we prevent the kind of mission creep that history teaches us to avoid.

If Iran and Russia want to spill their blood and treasure trying to prop
up their Syrian client and get sucked into a quagmire, that is their
choice. As President of the United States, I’ve made a different
choice. And the only real solution to the Syrian conflict is a
political solution, including a transition away from Assad. And that
takes diplomacy -- not American soldiers being dragged into the middle
of another civil war in the Middle East. Our foreign policy has to be
strong, but it also has to be smart.

Which brings me to my last lesson that I want to share: As powerful as
our military is, we have to remember that many of the threats to our
security cannot be solved by military force alone. We’ve got to draw on
every tool, all elements of our national power.

When we invest in the development that promotes education and
opportunity around the globe, it can make conflicts and military
interventions less likely later. So if you want to support our
military, you also have to be in favor of foreign assistance that helps
some young person learn in a very poor country, because it may end up
making it less necessary to send our sons and daughters somewhere to
fight. You can’t separate the two.

When we encourage economic and political reforms -- when citizens,
especially young people, in other countries have jobs and can choose
their own leaders and have their human rights and dignity upheld -- that
can help reduce the appeal of violent extremism. We now have hope of
averting the worst effects of climate change and the instability that
would threaten our national security because American leadership helped
rally the world and forge the most ambitious agreement in history to
fight climate change.

So if we’re going to seize the possibilities of our time, we have to use
all these tools, and we have to have the courage to chart new paths.
Because we negotiated with Iran and enforced strong sanctions, we
reached a deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb -- and
we did it without firing a shot. With diplomacy, not war. We put aside 50 years of failed policies, and now we’re seeing
Americans returning to Cuba and the Cuban people looking to us, and
having new hope for the future. Four decades after the
conflict between us, Vietnam and America are forging a new partnership,
showing the world that peace is better than war.

And perhaps no element of our power is more enduring than the example
that we set ourselves -- the values we live as a nation and as
individuals. That’s how we won the Cold War -- not just with the
strength of our arms, but with the power of our ideas, the power of our
example. It’s how we defend our nation -- including our refusal to
torture -- because America doesn’t just insist that other countries
respect human rights, we have to uphold them, as well, and lead the way.
It’s how we treat those we capture. It’s one of the
reasons we have to close the prison at Guantanamo -- because America has
to stand for rule of law.

We live our values when our military, like America itself, truly
welcomes the talents of all people. We’re stronger when our gay and
lesbian cadets and troops can serve their country -- a country they love
-- without hiding who they love. We’re stronger when cadets
-- like Wasim Soomro and Ismail Baumy and James Salem -- know that we
celebrate their service as proud, patriotic Muslim Americans who are
also serving in our Armed Forces.

And on this 40th anniversary of the first female cadets arriving at this
Academy, we are stronger because General Johnson leads this institution;
because Air Force General Lori Robinson leads Northern Command -- our
nation’s first female combatant commander; and because all combat
positions in our military are now open to women like you. We’re
stronger because of it.

So there you have it -- a few thoughts from your Commander-in-Chief on
how to keep our military strong and our nation secure. We can never
know what the future holds. But in the not-so-distant future, when I’m
no longer President, I will sleep well at night because I know that men
and women like you serve to keep us free.

Take care of each other. Take care of those under your command. And
as long as you keep strong that Long Blue Line, stay true to the values
you’ve learned here -- integrity, service before self, excellence -- do
this and I’m confident that we will always remain one nation, under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.